Prairie grain farmers are doing their job when it comes to productivity. Output of wheat has risen by 4-percent a year since 2000. Canola production has grown almost as much.
But the critical infrastructure needed to get those commodities to market has not kept pace and pales in comparison to the job farmers have done.
A new report by RBC tells a story of Canada’s lagging investment in things such as railways and, more particularly, port capacity.
We’re producing more product which means we need our transportation corridors to grow at roughly the same pace. But they’re not. RBC quotes Export Development Canada which says this country lags other OECD countries and the ratio of output to export capacity is shrinking.
And here is one important factor.
Commodities such as potash can use alternate port facilities such as the US west coast, a topic that has generated more than a few headlines in this country. But grain is stuck going through Vancouver which is growing more congested, all at a time when we’re looking to diversify our global customer base.
